In recent years, energy conservation has risen up the global agenda, putting HEM (Home Energy Management) front and center in smart home energy technologies Major countries have taken measures to build infrastructure and introduce related regulations. US companies, in particular, have been more active in smart home energy management, with a larger number of vendors dedicated to this field.
After analyzing and cross-examining 3,495 patents filed with the USPTO, MIC (Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute), a Taipei-based ICT research institute, has found that by share of patents, US companies took up 57.7%, Japanese companies seized 23.1%, Korean companies held 11.5%, and European companies represented 7.7%.
R&D Intensity of Top 30 Smart Home Energy Management Patent Assignees
|
Assignee
|
Patents
|
Citations
|
Self-
citations
|
Inventors
|
Nationality
|
Average Patent Age
|
Years since first patent was filed
|
Ranking
|
|
Samsung
|
125
|
94
|
0
|
351
|
3
|
4
|
15
|
1
|
|
General Electric
|
124
|
47
|
9
|
212
|
2
|
3
|
10
|
2
|
|
LG
|
112
|
26
|
2
|
255
|
3
|
5
|
13
|
3
|
|
Panasonic
|
101
|
48
|
1
|
233
|
2
|
4
|
14
|
4
|
|
Sony
|
109
|
17
|
5
|
203
|
5
|
4
|
13
|
5
|
|
Toshiba
|
71
|
39
|
2
|
134
|
2
|
4
|
16
|
6
|
|
Broadcom
|
63
|
36
|
7
|
87
|
2
|
3
|
10
|
7
|
|
Honeywell
|
34
|
105
|
2
|
95
|
2
|
5
|
15
|
8
|
|
Microsoft
|
30
|
91
|
1
|
89
|
2
|
6
|
14
|
9
|
|
IBM
|
52
|
5
|
1
|
145
|
3
|
5
|
14
|
10
|
|
Google
|
49
|
0
|
0
|
100
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
11
|
|
Qualcomm
|
45
|
1
|
0
|
111
|
2
|
2
|
9
|
12
|
|
ETRI
|
44
|
1
|
0
|
117
|
1
|
3
|
9
|
13
|
|
Hitachi
|
29
|
51
|
1
|
87
|
2
|
5
|
13
|
14
|
|
Conversant IP Management
|
25
|
63
|
76
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
9
|
15
|
|
Whirlpool
|
29
|
39
|
3
|
78
|
2
|
5
|
9
|
16
|
|
AT&T
|
28
|
44
|
1
|
64
|
1
|
4
|
10
|
17
|
|
Intel-GE Care Innovations
|
34
|
7
|
1
|
88
|
2
|
6
|
13
|
18
|
|
Nest Labs
|
33
|
5
|
3
|
58
|
2
|
2
|
5
|
19
|
|
Robert Bosch
|
27
|
34
|
15
|
10
|
1
|
2
|
5
|
20
|
|
Allure Energy
|
29
|
3
|
1
|
65
|
1
|
5
|
12
|
21
|
|
Nokia Corporation
|
18
|
30
|
37
|
15
|
1
|
7
|
5
|
22
|
|
Current Technologies
|
16
|
35
|
48
|
5
|
1
|
3
|
6
|
23
|
|
EcoFactor
|
27
|
3
|
0
|
54
|
2
|
4
|
11
|
24
|
|
Sharp
|
24
|
0
|
3
|
59
|
1
|
4
|
11
|
25
|
|
Fujitsu
|
22
|
0
|
0
|
61
|
2
|
4
|
11
|
26
|
|
Koninklijke
Philips
|
20
|
7
|
1
|
50
|
1
|
5
|
12
|
27
|
|
Cisco
|
19
|
6
|
0
|
30
|
1
|
2
|
6
|
28
|
|
Texas Instruments
|
20
|
0
|
1
|
38
|
2
|
3
|
8
|
29
|
|
Indesit Company
|
12
|
38
|
3
|
12
|
1
|
8
|
9
|
30
|
Source: MIC, January 2016
"US ICT companies have invested extensively into smart home data switching network technologies while US and European system integrators and home appliance vendors have invested a great deal of effort into the development of automatic power control systems, power generation/distribution systems, and electrical power measurement systems," says David Chen, a industry analyst with MIC. "Meanwhile, Google and Nest Labs recently have been developing HVAC control and temperature control systems, electrical power distribution control system, and data switching networks."
In the future, smart home energy management is expected to become part of people's lives, providing comprehensive smart home services that connect individual homes, power systems, and portable electronic devices. Driven by the IoT trends, US, European, Korean, and Japanese companies who own most of smart home energy management patents are going to continue influencing the development of global smart home energy management industry. Their technology development and products merit a closer look.
To see more about this report, please visit: Smart Home Energy Management: Patent Analysis and Vendors's Strategies
For future receipt of press releases, or more information about MIC research findings, please contact MIC Public Relations.
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About MIC
Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), based in Taipei, Taiwan, was founded in 1987. MIC is Taiwan's premier IT industry research and consulting firm providing intelligence, in-depth analysis, and strategic consulting services on global IT product and technology trends, focusing on markets and industries in Asia-Pacific. MIC is part of the Institute for Information Industry. https://mic.iii.org.tw/english